India will name their new coach after the World Cup-winning team returns from the Caribbean, but the timing is uncertain due to a hurricane.
The frontrunner for the position is Gautam Gambhir, 42, a former batsman who scored over 10,000 international runs across three formats. He recently coached Kolkata Knight Riders to the Indian Premier League title.
Indian media reported on Monday that another candidate to replace Rahul Dravid is W.V. Raman, 59, an ex-Indian cricketer and former coach of the national women’s team.
Jay Shah, secretary of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), said the two candidates had been “interviewed and shortlisted” by the board’s Cricket Advisory Committee, according to the Press Trust of India news agency.
“After reaching Mumbai, whatever they have decided, we will go by that,” Shah said.
Shah spoke in Barbados, where he told Indian reporters the team was stranded because flights were delayed by Hurricane Beryl. “Like you, we are also stuck,” he told reporters.
Former batsman V.V.S. Laxman will coach the team for their tour of Zimbabwe for five T20 internationals from July 6-14, Shah said.
The new coach will take over for India’s tour of Sri Lanka, comprising three T20s and three ODIs, beginning on July 27.
India won a thrilling final by seven runs against South Africa in Barbados on Saturday, clinching their first global tournament since the 2013 Champions Trophy.
The T20 triumph ended more than a decade of heartache, with India’s previous World Cup win coming in the 50-over format in 2011.
The T20 World Cup final was the last match in charge for former skipper Dravid, 51, who was lifted into the air by the team during the celebrations.
